Michael Kentoff's Imitation Airappears on The Caribbean's new Moon Sickness album discussed below.

The Caribbean - Moon Sickness (Hometapes)

“I’ve been working with The Caribbean for a decade now. I’m a passionate fan and I take my job as technical custodian of their art very seriously. They’ve always been an unusually thoughtful and creative band with a forward-looking aesthetic I have worked to protect and amplify. As time has gone on, their vision has become more refined and their execution more confident and authoritative.

This is as it should be.

Bands should get stronger and more interesting as they progress. Ideally, public awareness, critical acclaim and popularity increase in accord. Along these exact lines, a great thing happened in 2011. The band created and released ‘Discontinued Perfume,’ its strongest, darkest, most realized work to date. Happily, it was met with nearly unanimous acclaim. Here in DC, awareness of and esteem for the band rose palpably in the press. With ‘Discontinued Perfume,’ people started bandying about hyperbole like ‘brilliant’ and ‘masterpiece.’ The reception was surprising and gratifying for a fairly esoteric band that had resigned itself to being consigned to the margins. It was like a key turned in a cultural lock somewhere. People really began to ‘get it.’ It was nice.

But how do you follow up this kind of thing? Remarkably, when it came time to make a new album, the band did not become intimidated or self-conscious. There was no discussion about this new circumstance. They simply set about the business of creating new music in the way they always had. Michael Kentoff went down to his basement studio, used his formidable imagination, and came up with the scaffolding for nine new songs, which the band began to vivify and adorn. Business as usual.

The result is ‘Moon Sickness,’ a new set of songs with many of the recognizable characteristics of previous Caribbean albums — Kentoff’s literary and darkly dreamlike lyrics, the band’s advanced and eccentric compositional sensibility, and the curious, electronically treated surreal found-sounds draped around the songs. However, what feels new here is a bright, almost gregarious immediacy…embodied most obviously by the opener ‘Chemistry Sisters.’ This song contrasts pretty sharply with the opener of the previous album, the sinister, conspiratorial ‘Lands And Grooves.’ Where ‘Lands And Grooves’ opened with an introductory sound, an austerely minimal beat, and a stanza of poetic evocation, ‘Chemistry Sisters’ leaps out of the speakers with no overture whatsoever. The song is in your lap within a matter of seconds, overspilling with saturated, kaleidoscopic hues, a kinetic, byzantine chord progression, and a lyric that almost feels like a prosaic narrative description. Whole thing seems downright extroverted. It’s certainly a contrast from the terrain of ‘Discontinued Perfume.’

Before involving me in the album, the band described the music to me as concise, unforced pop songs. But I’ve been collaborating with the band long enough to be familiar with their tendency to characterize their own music as much more conventional and accessible than it is. It’s one of the qualities that makes them so beguilingly arcane: they don’t regard themselves as arcane at all. Still, I was indeed struck by the tone and presence of the songs when I heard them. ‘Imitation Air’ has dark lyrics, but it is pretty damned hooky from the first few seconds. With its appealing loping swing, I think it’s as close as the band has gotten to the word ‘confectionary.’ And ‘Jobsworth’ eschews the futuristic sonics that the band has often favored for a more plainly appointed rock arrangement. Seems to almost take on shades of ‘Document’-era R.E.M. Or at least that’s the way I hear it.

So at the risk of playing armchair analyst, I speculate that the Caribbean’s subconscious response to the new warmth and encouragement that enfolded them in the ‘Perfume’ period was to radiate it back out to the world. And that is a key energy you hear in this album. That being said, let’s be clear: Caribbean acolytes will not be shocked or dismayed. They are still arcane, introspective weirdo geniuses with a taste for the surreal and a basically melancholic disposition. I mean, come on, they titled it ‘Moon Sickness.’ It’s not a party record. You’d be wise not to expect straightforward, jubilant singalong choruses or ordinary chord progressions. But within the band’s canon — a body of work I love profoundly — this is certainly the most congenial entry yet.

Along with its own intrinsic virtues, I think it makes for a fantastic chaser for the last album.”

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The Ray Kennedy-produced Long In The Tooth boasts another duet with fellow outlaw Willie Nelson.

BILLY JOE SHAVER RELEASES LONG IN THE TOOTH – HIS FIRST NEW STUDIO ALBUM SINCE 2008's EVERYBODY’S BROTHER IN 2008 – OUT AUGUST 5

Billy Joe Shaver's finest songs prowl ("Hard To Be an Outlaw") and punch ("Music City USA") with welterweight fury. Evidence: The legendary outlaw's seamless Long in the Tooth. Shaver's first studio album in six years showcases a singular songwriter in peak form as he unearths his trademark truths around every corner ("Last Call for Alcohol," "The Git Go"). "This is the best album I've ever done," he says. "It's just dangerously good. I expect it to change things and turn things around the way Honky Tonk Heroes did."

Long in the Tooth, released on Lightning Rod Records through Thirty Tigers, charts his journey as an unrepentant outlaw. "Each song is different with different beats and different kinds of music," he says. "I even have one rap song. The titles are all so catchy like ‘It's Hard to Be an Outlaw' and ‘The Git Go.' Those are pretty hard to beat. Songwriting is gut wrenching, but if you dig down and write real honest you'll find something real great. I believe everybody should write. It's the cheapest psychiatrist there is and, God knows, I still need one."

Long in the Tooth spotlights all the highs, lows and in-betweens from Shaver's storied career, an evolving narrative never short on color. "The record's about me," says Shaver, who turns 75 years old on August 16th. "I've written a lot of great songs and I'm still writing great songs, but I felt neglected. I have been, actually. The reluctance to play old people's music is as bad as it was to play young people's music. I think it should level out where everyone can hear good art, but it seems like radio doesn't play older people's music. Man, it's like throwing out the Mona Lisa. I don't understand, but I'm just so proud of Long in the Tooth. This record will be a gigantic step."

Of course, Honky Tonk Heroes was the record that skyrocketed Shaver into public consciousness four decades ago. Waylon Jennings' landmark album delivered Shaver-written classics practically every measure: "Old Five and Dimers Like Me," "Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me," "Ride Me Down Easy," the title track and the Top 10 hit "You Asked Me To." In fact, 10 of the album's 11 songs were written or co-written by Shaver. It established him as a singular songwriter, a man whose earthy poetry resonates across the board. He's doubled down ever since.

No one sings Shaver's songs like the man himself, but plenty have tried: Everyone from Johnny Cash ("I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal") and Tom T. Hall ("Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me") to the Allman Brothers ("Sweet Mama") and Asleep at the Wheel ("Way Down Texas Way") has cut his tunes. "That's kind of like my trophies," Shaver admits. "Instead of getting CMA Awards, that means a whole lot more to me. When you write songs, and you write good songs, people will always remember you. Words will always outlive us. And if your name is attached to those words, you're gonna live forever."

Shaver spins yarns linking sacred ("Jesus Christ, What a Man") and secular ("That's What She Said Last Night") with a devil's grin. High watermarks have become instant standards ("Georgia on a Fast Train"). "These days it seems that every young songwriter in Texas wants to grow up to be Billy Joe Shaver," Kinky Friedman wrote recently. "Like the defenders of the Alamo, I predict that one day they'll be naming schools after Billy Joe, the man who wrote the immortal lines: ‘I got a good Christian raisin'/And an eighth grade education/Ain't no need in y'all treatin' me this way."

His most wistful ("Live Forever") and weary ("Blood Is Thicker Than Water") blur lines between life and art. In fact, Shaver, who lost parts of four fingers in an early sawmill accident, has lived through several tragedies that could serve as blueprints for teary country songs. Most notably, he endured the "cosmic misfortune" of his mother, first wife and only son (guitarist Eddy Shaver) dying within a year of one another. Life's simply treated him hard. Shaver hasn't aged gracefully, either. (Spin "Wacko from Waco" for his account of shooting a man in the face outside Papa Joe's Texas Saloon in spring 2007.)

The Corsicana, Texas native's Lone Star State roots run deep: His great-great-great grandfather, Revolutionary War veteran Evan Thomas Watson, was one of the founders of the Republic. Shaver was raised in hardscrabble circumstances by his grandmother, working on farms and selling newspapers on the street in his youth. He sang and made up songs "since I could talk," and was inspired in his childhood to keep at it after sneaking out of home one night to catch a country music show where he heard Hank Williams early in his career.

He drew a connection between country and blues from an uncle's record collection and the neighboring African-American farm workers' music. "Country music is really close to being the blues, and rock 'n' roll ain't nothing but the blues with a beat. That's about it," he says. Shaver was given a Gene Autry guitar by his grandmother at age 11 and began playing until his stepfather gave it away a few years later as payment for yard work. Following a brief stint in the Navy at age 16, a stab at professional rodeo, and the aforementioned incident losing parts of his fingers, Shaver took up playing guitar again and devoted himself to songwriting.

He hitchhiked to Nashville in 1965 and eventually earned a $50-a-week writer's deal with Bobby Bare's publishing company. Soon Jennings picked up those Shaver classics for Honk Tonk Heroes. As theWashington Post notes, "When the country outlaws were collecting their holy writings, Billy Joe Shaver was carving out Exodus." He followed his debut on the Monument label with three albums on Capricorn Records and two on Columbia through 1987, seeing little commercial success with his recordings but winning rave reviews and the admiration of his musical peers.

In 1993, he broke through with new generations and broader audiences as the currently booming Americana and Texas roots music and singer-songwriter scenes were gathering steam with the acclaimed Tramp On Your Street, united with his late guitar-playing son Eddy as simply Shaver. He has since issued 11 more independent albums, was honored with the first Americana Music Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting in 2002, and inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004.

As his well deserved public recognition came in the 1990s, Shaver was cast by his friend and fan Robert Duvall in his acclaimed 1996 film The Apostle, and has since played parts in three other theatrical and TV movies. He was the subject of a 2004 documentary produced by Duvall, A Portrait of Billy Joe, and published his autobiography, Honky Tonk Hero, the following year. He also sings the themes to the Adult Swim television show Squidbillies, and "Live Forever" was included in the award-winning hit movie Crazy Heart as its end-credit song.

With these accomplishments behind him, Shaver has been thinking his creative well finally dried up. After all, he hasn't released an album with new songs in six years. Thankfully, he was wrong. Credit East Nashville's favorite son with lighting the fire. "I didn't think I had another hope in the world of doing another studio album," Shaver says. "Then Todd Snider encouraged me to come up to Nashville and I listened. I knew if I didn't come out with new songs, it wouldn't be right. I've promised hundreds of critics that I would. So, I just buckled down and got the new songs together. Sure enough, it turned out great."

Monday, July 14, 2014

Members of Blue Rodeo are joining the salute to their late keyboardist James Gray.

THE SECOND ANNUAL JAMES GRAY MEMORIAL SHOW will be hosted by Derek Downham of The Beauties and Bill Heffernan at theHorseshoe Tavernon Monday, August 18th at 8 pm. Tickets are $12.50 in advance, $15 at the door. All proceeds go to The Shine Group For The Advancement of Music.Confirmed performers include:Jim Cuddy with sonsDevin Cuddyand Sam Polley, members ofBlue RodeoNQ Arbuckle with guestLuke DoucetThe Travellers featuring James' dad, Jerry GrayHey Stella! special reunion performance featuringLori YatesThe Gypsy RebelsSugarlips akaDaniel JosephChrisBottomley's Brainfudge featuringRichard Underhill and Gerry James ScottMarty Morin of the Tom Waits Appreciation Congregation The Gray Brothers with The Dustbowl DaddiesDruckfarben

Friday, July 11, 2014

Shattered will be Reigning Sound’s first album for Merge and the first full album by the group since 2009’s Love and Curses (In The Red).

The band’s principal songwriter/member is Greg Cartwright, who’s been leading the shifting cast of characters since 2001. You may be familiar with some of the band’s work, as this album is preceded by five studio efforts as well as numerous EPs and live records. Or perhaps some of Greg’s other projects have been on your musical radar: The Oblivians, Parting Gifts, Compulsive Gamblers, 68 Comeback, Deadly Snakes, Detroit Cobras.

As far as Reigning Sound is concerned, this is as good a place to start as any because through many line-up changes and mood swings, the central, constant feature is the way Greg writes songs. This particular embodiment of the band includes longtime keyboardist Dave Amels, who joined the band seven years ago when Reigning Sound recorded an album, consisting mostly of Cartwright’s songs, with former Shangri-Las lead singer Mary Weiss.

Dave proved to be key in putting together the current line-up as well. About three years ago, Greg was asked to make a promotional EP for Scion. Recordings were set to take place in Nashville where he had lined up two local friends to round out the band, but as fate would have it, both had to bow out at the last minute. Luckily, Mike Catanese, Benny Trokan, and Mikey Post—Dave Amels’ bandmates in Brooklyn soul group The Jay Vons—were up for the task. The four flew to Nashville, learned the songs, and recorded them with Greg in a couple of days. Thus was born the group that you hear on Shattered. They’ve been touring and playing together ever since, and Shattered proves that the musical union is both exciting and consistent.

The album was recorded at Daptone’s Brooklyn studio (where drummer Mikey works in the office) and masterfully engineered by Wayne Gordon. The recordings are warm and punchy, a mixed bag of rockers, ballads, and something in between. There are only 11 songs on the album, but the band reckons it’s just right. Check out the track "My My" below.

Vinyl copies of Shattered and the recent repress of Reigning Sound Live At Goner Records 6-26-2005 LP will be available at Goner (2152 Young Avenue at Cooper) in Memphis on Saturday (July 12) where Greg Cartwright will be playing a solo in-store. Be sure to arrive before 5 pm and yes, it's BYOB.

Friday, July 4, 2014

During the summer of 2002, the original stars of Ska gathered for a special weekend of concerts featuring music, memories and fun. The Legends Of Ska concerts occurred on July 12-13, 2002 at the Palais Royale Ballroom on the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada. The event was produced by Steady Rock Productions LLC in the United States and filmed in Hi-Definition by director Brad Klein as the Legends Of Skadocumentary screening in Toronto at Harbourfront on Saturday, August 2 (see details below).

Ska is a musical genre featuring upbeat, positive dance rhythms, which have energized three distinct generations of fans. Born in the days prior to Jamaica’s independence from Great Britain in the early 1960s, Ska played a vital role in the creation of the island’s music industry. Other popular styles of Jamaican music include Mento, Rock Steady, Reggae, Dub, Dancehall, Deejay and Ragga.